A lack of blockbusters in 2014 caused a 3.7pc decline in UK admissions at Cineworld, but the cinema chain said it made up for the shortfall with price rises and by selling more tickets to more expensive IMAX screenings.

Overall, it meant UK box office sales for the group, which include the Picturehouse arthouse brand, edged up 0.1pc for the year. Annual profits are now expected to come in at the top end of forecasts, Cineworld said in a trading update on Wednesday.

Phillip Bowcock, Cineworld’s chief financial officer, said: “There is no doubt 2014 was not a strong year of film.”

He noted that not a single film hit £50m in total at the UK box office – the industry threshold for a ‘blockbuster’. The biggest title of 2014 was The Lego Movie, which grossed £37.5m.

Cineworld is pinning its hopes for 2015 on what it said was a stronger Hollywood release slate. Avengers: The Age of Ultron, Star Wars: Episode VII and the new Bond film, Spectre, are all expected to perform well.

Mr Bowcock admitted that after years of above-inflation prices rises across the industry, Cineworld had reached the limits of what consumers are willing to pay for a cinema ticket. The combination of price rises – including the introduction of booking fees - and more expensive screenings raised its average UK ticket price 4pc in 2014.

With inflation now at a joint-record low of 0.5pc, the company said it has less scope to raise prices ahead of predicted market rises of less than 3pc this year, making it all the more important that the big releases draw the crowds.

Mr Bowcock said: “The days of above-inflation price rises are over.”

Total Cineworld like-for-like sales, including sales of popcorn and sweets, film distribution and its expanding operations in Eastern Europe, were up 1.7pc. The chain is also due to open a further 11 cinemas in the UK, totalling 84 screens, this year. A further 105 screens are planned in Eastern Europe and Israel.

Nick Batram, an analyst at Peel Hunt, said Cineworld had delivered “an impressively solid performance in what was a difficult year in general for cinema” and predicted a strong 2015.

“Our view remains that the recovery in cinema could be significantly stronger than the market is generally anticipating.”